Quote

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901 - 1978)

Areas of Academic Interest

Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health

Community based participatory research

HIV/AIDS

Community Development

My background is in the area of community development, public health, HIV and adolescent development. I am engaged in an exciting and innovative program of research that focuses on teen HIV prevention and support. More broadly, I am very interested in community-based participatory methodologies and am active on a variety of research teams that focus on adolescent sexual health with youth in Canada and (most recently) South Africa. I work across methodologies (qualitative, quantitative and arts-based) and seek to partner with youth, students and allied practitioners on action research agendas.

Major research projects

Taking Action! Building Aboriginal Youth Leadership in HIV Prevention
This is a national project working with six Aboriginal communities across Canada. We want to figure out how Aboriginal youth understand HIV in relation to their communities, cultures and colonization using arts-based methods. We also want to learn whether using art is an effective tool for working with youth to talk about HIV/AIDS.

The Toronto Teen Survey
We sought to gather information from diverse youth on their experiences with receiving sexual health services in Toronto so that we can improve them!

Improving Access to Appropriate Ethical Review for Community Based Research
In phase I of the project we conducted a content analysis of ethics review forms and policies across Canada. In phase II we talked to key informants who sit on/work with REBs. In Stage III we are talking to academics and community leaders who have been funded to do CBR. Our goal is to improve the quality and accessibility of ethics review.

Youth Disability and HIV
In partnership with the Griffin Centre, we sought to explore the unique vulnerabilities of queer youth labeled with intellectual disabilities to HIV.

Men’s Body Mapping Research Project
The Men's Body Mapping project is a community-based research initiative that challenges us to think differently about living with HIV/AIDS. Each map was created by a man who is a long-term survivor of this disease; each tells a visual story about how HIV impacts our bodies, our health, our relationships, and our community. One of the goals of this project is to foster dialogue and awareness about the importance of HIV education, prevention, treatment and support. Take a moment to visit this website and read the maps.

Savan, B., Flicker, S., Kolenda, B., & Mildenberger, M. (2009). How to Facilitate (or Discourage) Community Based Research: Recommendations Based on a Canadian Survey. Local Environments: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability. 14(8): 783 – 796.